About this issue
Dear Friends,I wanted to write to you about stress. After all, this issue is about dealing with Stress Monsters, both real and imaginary. But two dialogues kept butting their heads in, so I had to put them down. The first is ‘All is Well’, the 3 Idiots philosophy. And what a wonderful line it is. Think about it. How does stress build up? There is that upcoming exam or test or stage performance that we regard with much dread. ‘Get it over with, already’, we mutter. But then our hearts thump heavily followed by an unpleasant rumbling in our stomachs. Despite the similarity to certain tummy troubles, we’d swap falling ill to an exam, in a heartbeat, wouldn’t we? If you are one of the few who say ‘no’, good for you. For the rest of us, such symptoms mean our brains switch off, which is a definite ‘no-no’ just before an exam. So what does one do? Fool the brain into thinking ‘All is Well’. We repeat and repeat and repeat till we learn it by heart… and till we actually believe it. The second dialogue goes ‘Why so Serious?’. There will always be that last chapter we couldn’t revise on time, too few days to do last-minute studying, parents or teachers who are unhappy with our grades, too little time to answer that last question, friends who seem to have studied more… the list can go on. But why add to the misery by brooding about it? Being ill-prepared is bad enough. But if you add stress to the bargain, you are asking for a brain wipe----that phenomenon where everything you have learnt just goes ‘poof’! So relax, take a calm breath, laugh your worries away and say ‘All is Well’ before you tackle your Stress Monsters head on. Trust me, there is nothing that Stress Monsters hate more than laughter and joy. Just ask the Dementors.Beat those Stress Monsters and enjoy your studies. All the best,Rajani
About TINKLE
Tinkle started as a fortnightly children’s comics magazine, in 1980. Under the guidance of editor-founder, Anant Pai, the brand evolved the tagline ‘Where learning meets fun’. It was one of the first few children’s comics magazines with Indian content at that time. Till then children were reading syndicated foreign comics, – Archies, Phantom, Mandrake – translated into Indian languages. In Tinkle, children could read folktales from all over the world as well as stories revolving around the Tinkletoons. Many of these characters have evolved into icons such as Suppandi, Shikari Shambu, Tantri the Mantri, Kalia the Crow, etc. Over the years, newer characters have stepped into the Tinkle pages. These include the Defective Detectives, Butterfingers, Sea Diaries, etc. Apart from comics, the magazine also engages readers with several educative non-fiction pages including puzzles, do-it-yourself crafts, solve-it-yourself mysteries, knowledge features on a wide range of subjects and contests. Though intended as a magazine for children between the ages of 8 and 14, Tinkle’s reach goes far beyond. Families eagerly look forward to the magazine, every month, across the length and breadth of the country. It is probably not just the entertainment but the unexpected insights that the magazine gives their children that families value. Owing to Uncle Pai’s efforts, Tinkle is also welcomed by educators and school principals and thus holds a position as a recommended magazine for wholesome edutainment.